Closed loop transit systems

ABSTRACT

A transit system having an array of closed loop transportation paths with no intersecting or switching points. The loop array include major or express loops between distant terminals and minor or local loops for short distance travel between interurban terminals. The system involves passengers switching from one terminal to another rather than vehicle switching.

United States Patent 11 1 Crowder Jan. 21, 1975 4] CLOSED LOOP TRANSITSYSTEMS 3,421,450 1/1969 Bell 104/20 Inventor: y y Kenneth Crowd", 32553,552,321 l/l97l Prlebe 104/20 Zroft Pontiac Mlch' Primary Examiner-M.Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-D. W. Keen [22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1973 Attorney, Agent,or Firm-James T. Barr [21] Appl. No.: 330,660

[57] ABSTRACT 52 U.S. c1 104/88, 104/18, 104/91 A transit system havingan ay of Closed loop trans- [51 Int. Cl ..l B6lk 1/00 Portation Pathswith intersecting Switching 58 Field of Search 104/18, 20, 25-88, P Themay maim exPreSs lQCPS 104/91; 198/75, 76 78, 79 81 between distantterminals and minor or local loops for short distance travel betweeninterurban terminals. [56] References Cited The system involvespassengers switching from one UNITED STATES PATENTS terminal to anotherrather than vehicle switching.

1,001,170 8/1911 Sayer 104/18 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEU AN 2]I975 SHEET 2 OF 5 CLOSED LOOP TRANSIT SYSTEMS OBJ ECTS It is a primaryobject of this invention to provide a novel transit system for movingpeople and material over short and long distances with closed loop pathswhich do not intersect nor involve switching of vehicles at any time.

A further object of this invention is to provide express loops betweenmajor terminals at substantial distances apart without intervening stopsor the necessity for transfer except when traveling to local or othermajor terminals. It also provides relatively short distance travelbetween local terminals within a congested urban area.

These and other objects will be more particularly described in thefollowing specification and the drawings in which:

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a typical boarding station showingfour loops from other terminals merging therein at a representativeterminal.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the closed loop system for maximumcoverage.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a closed loop array for a particulargeographical condition.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a closed loop array for another geographicalcondition.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of closed loops for both major terminals and localterminals.

DESCRIPTION Referring now to FIG. 1, representative or terminal and someof its components are shown. Generally indicated, the terminal 10 orloop interchange has the appearance of a subway or railway station whichis accessible to pedestrain passengers, as well as vehicle passengersarriving on the travel loops A,B,C and D. The boarding areas or loopinterchange 10 is designed to accomodate high or low density transitsituations depending upon the local requirements such as airports,shopping centers, urban and rural traffic or when extendable to serve amajor municipal area. Note, that it is important the loops be closed andrelatively independant of each other, except for access at the stationterminals. Because of this feature, the transit system is independent ofswitching and merging problems, while permitting speeds from 8 to 80miles per hour, for example. It is also designed on the individualvehicle concept, which so obviously is the solution to present dayproblems of transportation in congested areas.

In FIG. 1, an arriving passenger P1 whether a pedestrian or one comingfrom a different loop, A,B,C, or D, proceeds to the center location ofarea 10 for access to the desired loop for the particular destination.Assuming passenger Pl has just arrived at the loop interchange 10 anddesires a destination served by loop B, after proceeding to the centerof the station, passenger Pl walks to the boarding area 10B, whereatarriving vehicles 12, which has been emptied at the embarking areagenerally indicated at 10E, permits selection by passenger P1 of anempty vehicle which he then boards at relatively slow speed or stoppedposition.

It is contemplated that computer and destination control may be usedwith this invention, whereby the passenger selects the desireddestination, pays the fare and receives a punched card which may beinserted in a recepticle either at the station or in the vehicle toprogram the vehicle.

A similar system is shown and described in the inventors issued US. Pat.No. 3,403,634 which was granted in the United States on Oct. 1, 1968.Some similarities and corresponding subject matter is also shown in theinventors co-pending patent applications: Ser. No. 146,352, filed May24, 1971 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,427 and Ser. No. 241,109, filed Apr. 5,1972.

Referring again to FIG. 1, a passenger P-2 arriving on one of the loopshas ready access to either another loop or a destination within walkingdistance of this station 10. It should be noted that the other transitloops A, C and D are similar to transit loop B as described, and thatthe number of transit loops is a matter of choice, depending upon theparticular requirements of the area.

In FIG. 2 there is shown a maximum coverage plan for an express transitloop 20 which permits non-stop travel from major terminals 10-0, l0-D,10-E and l0-C to each other without disembarking of the passengers. Theexpress loop 20 enables a passenger to board at terminal 10-0 and traveldirectly to terminal 10-C, for example. In addition express transitloops 0-D, D-E, C-E and Q-C are provided for limited express travelbetween major terminals only. For example, transit loop 0-D is acontinuous express route between terminals 10-Q and l0-D withoutintermediate stops but providing access at the terminals 10-0 and 10-Dto loops for other major or local terminals (not shown).

In FIG. 3 a closed loop array is shown for transit within a congestedurban area of a particular geographical configuration. In this arraymajor or express terminals are indicated by the numeral 10 with capitalletter suffixes and the local terminals are designated by the numeral 10with lower case numeral suffixes. This grid array enables a passenger toboard at terminal l0-A with the option of disembarking at terminals10-1, l0-B, 10-2, l0-3, 10-4, l0-C, 10-5 and l0-D. If other terminalsare desired, a passenger may transfer at the major express terminals,such as 10-B or l0-C to gain access to the other loops such as thoseserved by major terminals l0-F, l0-J, 10-N, l0-R and 10-V from majorterminal l0-B or alternatively those loops served by major terminalsl0-G, 10-K, 10-0, 10-S and l0-W from terminal 10-C.

Similarly in FIG. 4, another loop array is shown for a specificgeographical and passenger requirement. In this array, a passengerboarding at terminal l0-A will travel the loop L or loop E whichinterconnects with all the other major and local terminals. It iscontemplated that dual or parallel loops for loops L, M and N willpermit local stops on one loop to accomodate passengers for terminals10-1, 10-14 and 10-18, for example, while the other parallel loop willserve only the major terminals l0-B, l0-H and l0-N, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a maximum coverage economy loop array is shown.As an example, at main terminal l0-E arriving passengers have the choiceof express loops for main terminals [0-D and l0-B, directly; mainterminals l0-G and l0-C via terminals l0-D and 10-B, respectively, mainterminals l0-H and 10-F, via terminals [0-D and l0-G, 10-13 and l0-C,respectively, and other main terminals like l0-Y, l0-X and 10-A bydisembarking at terminal 10-B. Also local loops 10-4, 10-6, 10-7, 10-2,10-3 and 10-5 are readily available and directly accessible from mainterminal 10-E.

A passenger, residing in an area near terminal ll, for example, whileworking near terminal 10-G, would board a vehicle -d (not shown) atterminal 10-1, disembark at terminal l0-D and board an express vehicle16-6 to arrive at the place of employment. The return trip would beeffected via terminals l0-H and 10-E to terminal 10-D and the local loopto terminal 10-1.

With reference to all the figures, it should be noted that closed andnon-intersecting transit loops enable the maximum transferance of peopleand material in minimum time. In FIG. 5 for example, passengerstravelling from terminal -A to terminal 10-B board vehicles l6-B, whichhave been previously designated and computer oriented as an expressvehicle that does not stop at local terminals between terminals l0-A and10-B, but goes directly to terminal 10-B. In the event a single conduitor guideway is used for economic or other reasons the vehicle 16B willtraverse thru the local terminals to permit other passengers todisembark while the thru passengers stay on board. Also local passengerswill be routed automatically to desired local terminals in sequence.

Note, that in FIGS. 3 and 4 it appears that the loops such as loop L andloop E, do intersect. However it is contemplated that loops L and E atstation 10A, for example, (FIG. 4) will be each at a differenthorizontal level to allow one vehicle to pass over the vehicle from theother loop.

Because of the closed loop concept, it is possible to transport amaximum number of passengers in minimum time with a large degree ofsafety and convenience. Therefore it is contemplated that this inventionwill be readily understood and adaptable to various modificationsdetermined by unique local conditions and geographical requirements.Thus this invention is to be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a non-intersecting transit system for transporting passengers andmaterials between station terminals;

a plurality of major station terminals.

a plurality of local station terminals,

a plurality of closed express transit loops connecting said majorstation terminals,

a plurality of closed local transit loops connecting local stationterminals and having access to said major station terminals,

some of said closed local transit loops conterminous with some of saidclosed express transit loops.

guide track means associated with said closed loops.

vehicle means independently and sequentially movable on said guide trackmeans, and

power means for moving said vehicle means around said closed loops.

2. In a non-intersecting transit system,

at least one major station terminal,

at least one local station terminal,

a first plurality of express transit loops forming a grid array toencompass a relatively large transit territory, and

a second plurality of local transit loops forming a grid array toencompass a relatively small transit territory,

said second plurality of local transit loops having some loops withinand conterminous with some of said first plurality of express transitloops,

said major station terminal providing interchange access between some ofsaid first plurality of express transit loops and some of said secondplurality of local transit loops,

said local station terminal providing access between some of said secondplurality of local transit loops as well as at least two of saidplurality of express transit loops.

1. In a non-intersecting transit system for transporting passengers andmaterials between station terminals; a plurality of major stationterminals, a plurality of local station terminals, a plurality of closedexpress transit loops connecting said major station terminals, aplurality of closed local transit loops connecting local stationterminals and having access to said major station terminals, some ofsaid closed local transit loops conterminous with some of said closedexpress transit loops, guide track means associated with said closedloops, vehicle means independently and sequentially movable on saidguide track means, and power means for moving said vehicle means aroundsaid closed loops.
 2. In a non-intersecting transit system, at least onemajor station terminal, at least one local station terminal, a firstplurality of express transit loops forming a grid array to encompass arelatively large transit territory, and a second plurality of localtransit loops forming a grid array to encompass a relatively smalltransit territory, said second plurality of local transit loops havingsome loops within and conterminous with some of said first plurality ofexpress transit loops, said major station terminal providing interchangeaccess between some of said first plurality of express transit loops andsome of said second plurality of local transit loops, said local stationterminal providing access between some of said second plurality of localtransit loops as well as at least two of said plurality of expresstransit loops.